control debate is raging in the aftermath of the newtown school shooting, as the white house and national polls show a changing attitude. will this tragedy inspire washington to act? here in newton, students returning back to school this morning, but they won't be going back to sandy hook elementary. at least not yet as another little girl laid to rest, just one day after two first grade boys buried. a new sign that the tide could be turning on gun control. gun control stocks under fire. a pension fund may have to strip investments. and movement on the fiscal cliff. we may be moving much closer to a deal, with the president making a surprise offer. it is tuesday, december 18th. you're watching a special edition of "starting point" from newtown, connecticut. we begin right now.

welcome, everybody. a special edition of "starting point," live this morning from newtown, connecticut, the site, of course, where an unthinkable massacre at an elementary school has really shifted the landscape in the gun control debate. here is the latest on that president obama meeting with senior staff and cabinet members yesterday, to see proposals that will include reinstating a ban on automatic weapons. overnight, we've learned dick's sporting goods has banned the sale of ar-15 rifles and other guns like it. in fact, the modern sporting rifles section of dick's website, blank this morning. the company released a statement saying this. out of respect for the victims and their families, we have removed all guns in our store nearest newtown and suspended the sale of modern sporting rifles in all of our stores chain wide. in this community, grief counselors and extra police patrols will be on hand this

morning when children, all over newtown head back to class for the first time since friday. sandy hook elementary school is a crime scene and it remains closed. jessica rekos, one of 20 children killed on friday, will be laid to rest on friday. 6 years old. adored horses. couldn't wait for her tenth birthday. her parents promised her, in fact, when she was 10, they would buy a horse for her. after newtown buried two 6-year-old boys, noah pozner who loved tacos, and jack pinto who loved the new york giants. more throughout the morning, including gun control laws. first, john berman with developing information on fiscal cliff negotiations. fiscal cliff talks haven't received much attention in recent days for good reason. but today is the two-week

warning, with some good news to report. overnight, we learned president obama made an eye opening offer in talks with house speaker john boehner. under the new proposals, tax rates would go up on those making above $400,000. a big shift. the president has long campaigned on that number, starting at $250,000. the president also offering spending cuts worth $200 billion. for his part, speaker boehner who has all along refused to consider any raising in the tax rates has proposed tax rates for households making $1 million. so movement from both sides. cnn's dan lothian in washington with the latest on this. good morning, dan. >> good morning, john. the big question, can speaker boehner sell this proposal to house republicans? this is very dramatic, president obama had always dug in, saying there was no deal unless taxes went up on households making more than $250,000. now the president raising that

to $400,000. this new proposal or counterproposal coming during a meeting at the white house between the president and speaker boehner yesterday. it lasted 45 minutes. in addition, the president proposing $1.2 trillion in new revenue. down from 1$1.4 trillion and 1$2 trillion in spending cuts. this meets the demand that speaker boehner had for an equal amount of spending cuts to revenue. but house republican aides say while this is a step in the right direction, they don't believe the president's math really adds up. brendan buck says a proposal that includes $1.3 trillion in revenue for only $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced. so still some distance here between both sides can actually reach an agreement here. white house sources say that this is not the final offer from the president, signaling there could be some room for

compromise, john. >> a big day for speaker boehner as well. 10:00 eastern time, scheduled to meet with house republican members to update them on negotiations. really needs to take their temperature on this, doesn't he? >> he does. a lot of house republicans have been unwilling to budge on incomes, tax hikes going up for even high-income americans, and now john boehner is proposal that $1 million, the president now with $400,000. and so this is a tough sell for house republicans who have insisted that they wanted those extensions to continue for all americans, because they believe that it will have a negative down turn pressure on the economy. they will put pressure on those who are the job creators. a big sell. interesting to see if they can convince those who are pushing forward. >> we'll check back in with you a little bit. dan lothian, thank you very much. back

to newtown and soledad. >> we mentioned the gun control debate has taken on new urgency after friday's massacre at sandy hook elementary school. more lawmakers moving in the direction of tighter gun laws in the aftermath of the tragedy. emily schmidt live in washington, d.c. with details. emily. >> soledad, good morning to you. yesterday in the senate, a moment of silence for the victims of newtown, a time when words weren't necessary. across the country, other responses to the shooting are beginning speak for themselves. one of them coming commercially. take a look at what's happening at dick's sporting goods. a major retailer. go to their website this morning and look for modern sporting rifles, the website will turn up a blank page. that is because dick's said it's suspending sales of that weapon nationwide. also removing all guns from its store that is closest to newtown, connecticut. out of respect it says for the victims and families affected by the newtown shootings, unclear how long that suspension will last. but certainly some lawmakers in

washington are saying they want to see more permanent changes. senator dianne feinstein says there is no second amendment right to bear every type of weapon possible. she wants to see changes. >> i'm going to do an assault weapons piece of legislation and it's going to be strong, and it's going to be definitive, and it's going to ban by name at least 100 military-style semiautomatic assault weapons and it will ban big clips, drums, or strips of more than 10 bullets, and it's this particular category of weapon which the bushmaster is, it's a killer weapon. >> white house spokesman jay carney says the assault weapons ban is a complex issue requiring some plex solutions. we are hearing from the white house that the president is putting cabinet members to task

on that. back to you. >> have you some polls you want to share? >> an instant spike in how people are reacting to this. cbs news asked do you want more strict or less strict gun control rules. over the weekend this number went up 18%, since the question was asked last asked in april. abc news/washington post poll taken over the past few days shows support for this legislation going up. lawmakers watching this, waiting to see if this is a quick change in sentiment or a real shift in policy debate. soledad. >> all right, emily. thank you for the update. coming up, we'll talk with west virginia senator joe manchin, a member of the nra, who says everything should be on the table when it comes to gun laws, all schools in newtown will reopen today, except sandy hook he elementary school which remains an active crime scene. students returning and families, trying to get back to a productive routine. of course, the pain is still,

still deep. cnn's sandra endohas our report. >> in the wake of tragedy, a step toward normal see, for newtown kids that means going back to school. >> we also are going to be a little bit worried, because we know what we thought was a secure school had this happen to them. >> reporter: but facing fear may be the first step to overcome this tragedy. >> children have to get back to school. if we let the sort of terror in our lives anywhere in this country, we've lost. we have to get kids back to school again. >> classes resuming for 5,400 students in the district, except for those at sandy hook elementary. monday, all schools closed as teachers and administrators trained with experts on how to handle the aftermath. many parents we spoke with agree, kids belong back in school. >> i think one of the big things

we have to do is have some sort of normalcy. and school is part of that. >> unfortunately, you know, we're living in this world where sometimes evil prevails sometimes. but we just are believing that good will overcome this. >> sandy hook elementary remains a crime scene. furniture and supplies were moved to chalk hill middle school in neighboring monroe, where sandy hook students will eventually resume classes. >> when children come in, whenever school is started, they walk into the classroom it, will look as close as possible to their classroom that they left. >> grief counselors and police officers will be on hand at newtown schools, and principals have asked parents to talk to their children about the tragedy before they head back into the classrooms. teachers as well will talk about what happened here on friday in an age-appropriate manner.

soledad. >> just a brutal day for them today. sandra endo, thank you, sandra. different kind of fallout to tell you about in the wake of the connecticut school shooting. new developments overnight in the gun industry. christine romans has details on that. >> good morning. we're talking about the company that owns bushmaster. bushmaster firearms is the company that made the 223 caliber assault weapon that was used in the shooting. here is how the money goes. cerberus, a big private equity company. big investors. it actually put together a group of these firearms companies into something called freedom group, and one of the investors into this is the california state teachers retirement system. have you technically as indirect investors, california teachers who own about 6% of bushmaster, the company that made that firearm. today, cerberus, the private equity firm, says it's looking to sell freedom group and the

maker of bush master and get out of that business. in terms of private equity, that is an unusual turn of events, a company wanting to get out of business. cerberus says it's apparent that the sandy hook tragedy is a watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level. it is not our role to take positionsor attempt to shape or influence the gun control policy debate, there are, however, actions that we as a firm can take." they are trying to sell the company that makes the bushmaster. the california teachers retirement system, their spokesman out this morning with a statement. there are a lot of products that can be used responsibly or irresponsibly. in this case it was used irresponsibly. now that a tragic event like this has occurred, it's something we will discuss going forward. what they will discuss, whether it's appropriate for a teachers pension to be invested in a company that makes semi automatic weapons and a product that was used to kill teachers

and students. soledad. >> yeah, i sympathy anybody who is investing money anywhere one would think would want to go back and examine not just weapons and not just this particular incident. what is your money in? what are you literally supporting? that's a very good question. christine romans, thanks, christine. kids in newtown go back to school, how can parents and teachers help teachers feel safe? after such a violent episode. steve perry, capital prep magnate school, will join us up next. we leave you with a tribute to some of the victims of sandy hook. the judges and contestants of "the voice." ♪ snoor smoo he said nasal congestion. yeah...i heard him. [ female announcer ] tylenol® cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion.

nyquil® cold and flu doesn't.

. children in every school here in newtown, connecticut, except for sandy hook elementary school, of course, which is still an active crime scene, all head back to school today. on a two-hour delay, which will give the teachers a little extra time to prepare for classes and on hand at every school will be grief counselors, because, of course, it is a very different world for these children heading back to than the one they left last week. steve perry, principal and president of capital prep

magnate school in hartford, connecticut. about an hour's drive from here. if you were among the principals and teachers inside the location, the students from sandy hook elementary would be attending what would you be telling them? >> first thing is what i would tell my own colleagues, when children ask questions, recognize you need to keep your terms broad. we don't understand what happened, and the best thing we can do is focus on the broad, almost fantastical terms like bad things sometimes happen to good people. and in addition to that, there are now 20 moraine gels in the sky here to support you. >> what should the tone be? >> all positive. all positive. are you going to be safe. you are safe in schools. >> had has to be so hard if you are a person that survived that massacre. how do you not as a teacher look at the faces of students when you are suffering on your own? how do they do it? >> one of the first things i said to my colleagues yesterday is i want to know if you're

okay. because before we leave this room, before we break this huddle and go out to take care of the children, i need to know everybody here is okay, if you are not, tap out, let somebody help you first, because the teachers have to feel good before they can go in and make the children feel good. a hard sell today. it will be a hard sell for a long time. >> should there be moments -- in my kids school, we don't live very close to here, they had meetings, and talked wi about t. should they plow on and do math and spelling? >> i don't think it's either-or. you do a couple minutes to pull together some kids and have some conversations, and listen -- listen to the flow of the kids to be honestly with you, soledad, a lot of kids have fatigue over this. it's freaking them out. they can't sleep. they would like to pump the brakes and talk about something different. they want to talk about ballet

rehearsal or the play they have coming up or the basketball game. they want to talk about something different this is a bit much for them. >> a lot of conversation has moved to gun control debate and there are people who suggest that what could be helpful would be weapons inside of schools. >> absolutely absurd. suitly absurd. >> there are schools with armed guards in them. >> there are schools that have police substations in them. but that wouldn't have saved these children. the problem here is that that individual who was clearly deranged, had guns. it's not that somebody else on the inside would have had guns. you could have had navy s.e.a.l.s at the front door with arms drawn to stop him. that would be the only way. he came in with four weapons, shot his way into the school. not much you can do about that. it was a secure school. and that was the truth. he could have gotten into any building in the united states with that level of weapons. >> shehere is what governor ric

perry said. >> in the state of texas with our concealed weapons laws. if you go through the process and dually ba l ly backgrounded trained, you should be able to carry your handgun anywhere in this state. >> why are you shaking your head, no, no, no? >> with all due respect to governor perry, he has to think beyond the small mindedness, i want to carry a gun for gun's sake. too many people have died. our children are frightened to go back to school because we have lawlessness, a feel in our country. so many people are afraid that somebody is carrying a gun. step back for a second. take a look at the rest of the country and realize that not everybody thinks carrying a gun is cool. some people are afraid of it. there are people in the country that are fearful in their own neighborhood because of guns.

they don't make everyone feel safer. in many cases they make children feel unsafe. and that's the problem. >> dr. steve perry. always nice to have you with us. appreciate it. coming up, we'll talk with joe manchin. talked about protecting the second amendment and uses a lot of guns in his advertisement for campaigns, but now talking about changing the country's gun laws. a dramatic rescue. a reporter freed from captors in syria today. we'll update you on what happened there. live reports, up next. ♪

[ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org. in the drive to end hunger alriwoah! did you get that? and...flip! yep, look at this. it takes like 20 pictures at a time. i never miss anything. isn't that awesome? uh that's really cool. you should upload these. i know, right? that is really amazing. the pictures are so clear. kevin's a handsome devil that phone does everything! search dog tricks. okay, see if we can teach him something cool. look at how lazy kevin is. kevin, get it together dude cmon, kevin take 20 pictures with burst shot on the galaxy s3.

welcome back, everyone. a harrowing tale, a reporter and his crew held for five days in syria, now free unharmed. nbc says richard engel and his crew, safe and out of the country. nick paton walsh following this story. a dramatic series of event. >> engel's crew crossed into syria on thursday. nothing was heard. no ransom request, no contact. until they appeared to be free on monday. subsequently emerges, they were picked up, mr. engel says, by a

men in ski masks. 15 of them, who leapt out of the bushes and took his team as hostages. they were moved around the country in the back of an open pickup, blind folded and bound, but otherwise not harmed. they were transferred to another location. this all happening in the north of syria. now, during that journey, they seem to have come across a group of rebels called the atar al sham brigade, who entered into a gun fight with their captors. it caused the nbc team to be free. >> no physical harm. but psychological farm. fa harm. fake executions, asking them which one of them they would like to be executed first. >> they believe that there was a

reb regime to the loyalty. mr. engel has gone on to say that they may have been thugs. in context to the civil war it refers to militia loyal toward the government. he thinks they may have been held in a bid to try and exchange them for captives held by the rebels, potentially iranian agents working for the syrian regime. a complex situation which seems to have been remarkably resolved in positive fashion, of course, shows you how anarchy things are getting in syria. >> thank you so much. you and i have known richard and his cameraman for a long time. we are all relieved this morning. thank you so much. let's go back to newtown, connecticut, where soledad is. >> all right. john, thank you. and, yeah, we're all concerned about the news of richard engel. such good news for everyone. let's talk more about what's happening among gun sellers, some taking action after the newtown shooting. what dick's sporting good is

doing. it will surprise a lot of people. not done before. and famously pro gun democrat. but senator joe manchin having a change of heart? his latest comments on gun legislation when we come back in a moment. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice. call or visit us online. we're ready to help. who have used androgel 1%, there's big news. presenting androgel 1.62%. both are used to treat men with low testosterone. androgel 1.62% is from the makers of the number one prescribed testosterone replacement therapy. it raises your testosterone levels, and...

is concentrated, so you could use less gel. and with androgel 1.62%, you can save on your monthly prescription. [ male announcer ] dosing and application sites between these products differ. women and children should avoid contact with application sites. discontinue androgel and call your doctor if you see unexpected signs of early puberty in a child, or, signs in a woman which may include changes in body hair or a large increase in acne, possibly due to accidental exposure. men with breast cancer or who have or might have prostate cancer, and women who are, or may become pregnant or are breast feeding should not use androgel. serious side effects include worsening of an enlarged prostate, possible increased risk of prostate cancer, lower sperm count, swelling of ankles, feet, or body, enlarged or painful breasts, problems breathing during sleep, and blood clots in the legs. tell your doctor about your medical conditions and medications, especially insulin, corticosteroids, or medicines to decrease blood clotting. talk to your doctor today about androgel 1.62% so you can use less gel. log on now to androgeloffer.com

and you could pay as little as ten dollars a month for androgel 1.62%. what are you waiting for? this is big news. [ male announcer ] with free package pickup from the u.s. postal service the holidays are easy. visit usps.com. pay, print, and have it picked up for free before december 20h for delivery in time for the holidays. you can even give us special instructions on where to find it. free package pickup. from the u.s. postal service. because it's nice to have an extra pair of hands around for the holidays.

welcome back. you're watching "starting point." special edition from newtown, connecticut. the tragedy here on friday has truly changed the conversation on gun control in this country. president obama met with members of his cabinet yesterday. ordering ideas that would include a ban on assault weapons. and there is word of a major move overnight by dick's sporting goods. 451 stores across 42 states. out of respect to the victims it has pulled its guns from the store close toast nst to newtow suspended the sale of ar-15sand guns like it across the entire chain. in this morning, children in newtown will head back to school for the first time since friday's shooting. sandy hook elementary will remain closed, it's an active crime scene. jessica rekos will be laid to rest today. 6 years old. couldn't wait for her 10th

birthday, because her parents said they would buy a horse for her. dan malloy calling for a moment of silence one week after the shooting at sandy hook. the governor choking up as he told why he took it upon himself to tell the families waiting on friday morning that their loved ones weren't going to come home. >> it was evident to me that there was a reluctance to tell parents and loved ones that the person that they were waiting for was not going to return. i made the decision that to have that go on any long er was wron. >> 6-year-old noah pozner laid to rest yesterday. that's a picture of him there.

his mother's name veranique posner. she read a moving eulogy to her son. it starts like this "the sky is crying, and the flags are at half mast. it's a sad, sad day. but it's also your day, notice wra, my little man. i had miss your forceful and purposeful little steps stomping through our house, the perpetual smile, the twinkle in your dark blue eyes framed by eyelashes that would be the envy of any lady in this room. she goes on and ends by saying this, i had join you some day, not today, i still have lots of mommy love to give to danielle, michael, sophia, and arielle. until then, your melody will linger in our hearts forever, mama loves you, little man. the entire eulogy, so powerful and beautiful, acan be seen in "the new york times," they have

reprinted it there. as we talked about the tragedy bringing gun control laws to the forefront, we want to bring in joe manchin, conservative democrat from the state of virginia, and famously pro gun. nice to have you with us, sir. we certainly appreciate it. you have said it's now time to talk about gun control. what do you specifically mean? >> soledad, what we're talking about, i know that everybody is grieving as hard as we're grieving in west virginia, and i can only imagine the pain. i just can, as a parent and grandparent. so our hearts and prayers are with all of the families and all of the people of connecticut. newtown. i just -- i don't have words for that. and my sympathies for them with that being said, we haven't hopefully become a society or become even a governing body that we can't sit down and talk. we can't lay everything on the table to find out how do we move

forward? we have challenges. i'm a big proponent of colin powell's five promises to children. second promise, every child should have a safe place in their life. sometimes it's not always the home. more than often, it's the school and it looks like even that has been taken away. it is time to sit down, time to look at a responsible, reasonable approach. mental illness, a culture of violence, sometimes accepted, even glorified and certain military style weapons that as a hunter myself, as a proud defender of the second amendment, as a proud member of the nra, we should question. and look and see if there is a better way to do this. >> would you then support legislation that would ban assault weapons. would you support legislation that would get rid of high capacity magazines? >> soledad, that all has to come to the table. if it's a responsible, reasonable manner, i think that the majority of americans would

support a reasonable approach to that. i have been hunting all my life. i have ever had multiple rounds of clips of ten or more. not needed. i never gone with a military style assault rifle hunting. it's not needed. so we need to question that. we need to bring the nra in. these are all good people. they have children and grandchildren, they are hurting too. they are grieving. so we can't villainize, and if you start villainize, you will push them away and we won't move forward. what will happen is a stalemate again and that's not what we desire. >> do you worry about political backlash? you said you're a proud member of the nra, and as you know, they often fund candidates who -- and work to overthrow frankly candidates who don't support the same kinds of beliefs and legislation that they support. do you worry about backlash from constituents? >> i come from the beautiful,

great state of west virginia, the most wonderful people and we sit down and work through our problems, we have challenges, we sit down. come to a conclusion with the facts and that's what we're asking for. there is always going to be i guess movement or political backlash on anything and everything. the easiest vote to take in washington is a no vote. vote for nothing. you don't have to explain. but if you are willing to move forward and for the sake of our children, soledad, we had 20 beautiful babies slaughtered. that cannot be tolerated in america. so does that bring us to the table? have we had such a toxic atmosphere, political toxic atmosphere we can't set and have a mature, intelligent decision and look at things and make sure we can protect the second amendment to the constitution, which i will as fervently as ever. i'm a proud member and will always be. but with that, i'm a responsible parent and grandparent. we need to look. how do we handle mental illness?

this all knees to be talked about, in a culture of violence. how have we gotten where we are today? when you say the backlash, it's a shame in washington, i have been here two years as a u.s. senator. i have seen almost a guilt by association. people afraid to talk to other people to get a truly constructive dialog because they were afraid they would be tainted or targeted. now it's almost to the point that we're afraid to have an adult conversation. so guilt by conversation. has it gotten to that in washington? i hope not. >> governor perry said this about weapons. i want to play a little bit for you. >> in the state of texas, with our concealed handgun license if you go through the process and you have been dully backgrounded and trained and you are a concealed handgun licensed carrying individual, you should be able to carry your handgun

anywhere in this state. >> do you agree with that? he is talking about texas, his state. do you think we should be able to carry a gun anywhere? >> soledad, he's talking about the laws we have in this country. the legal, law-abiding citizens. you know, we're not talking about that. we're talking can we get rick perry to sit down, a proud member of the nra, can we get people to sit down and have an adult conversation? that's what this really is about. if we can't even get them to the table, do you really think we'll have success in basically how we keep our children safer? changing the violent culture. >> let me ask you this -- >> i'm sorry. >> when you look at assault-type weapons, estimated to be somewhere between 2% to 8%, some of the numbers i've seen, involved in gun violence. so that leaves you, i think it's 80% is handguns involved in gun

violence. does this open up a conversation to -- >> i think what you will see hopefully -- soledad, hopefully you will have proud members of the nra and defenders of the second amendment who says it's time to have an intelligent conversation. the military assault rifles, is that something needed in our society? it was designed for the purpose of our military and our first responders and police defending us as a nation. and those who are the discussions we should be having, along with the other things we've been talking. the mental health and violent culture. we're having a hard time getting people of different philosophical beliefs to come out and sit down. they are afraid to speak out, thinking that one side or the other might attack them. it might be politically not popular. again, i remind you, we're talking about children here. never in my life did i ever think that i would ever see,

soledad, children slaughtered in america. i never -- i can't comprehend it. i was with my grandchildren this past weekend, i just can't comprehend it. my heart goes out. i'm hurting, i think all america is hurting right now. >> senator joe manchin, thank you for being with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> john berman has a look at other stories making news this morning. >> 18-year-old sergio cabata in custody, accused of threatening a newtown style massacre. his facebook posts suggested he was considering a copycat rampage. a report by an independent panel that looks at the deadly attack on the consulate in benghazi libya. the report ordered by secretary of state hillary clinton, although she won't testify since she's recovering from a concussion.

the attack in september, you killed four americans, including chris stevens, the ambassador to libya. a giant of the u.s. senate has died. senator daniel inouye represented hawaii from the day it became a state in 1959. he was 88. suffered from respiratory problems. shaken majority leader harry reid addressed colleagues yesterday. >> i have never known anyone like dan inouyue, no one else has. the kindness he has shown me for my time here in the senate has been something i will cherish always. >> senator inouye, second longest serving member ever behind robert byrd of west virginia. newtown high school football coach steven george never expected a response when he left a message on a white board for president obama the president visited newtown on sunday. coach george and another teacher left a note on the white board

in advance, thanking him for coming. they weren't sure the commander in chief would see it, but he did. the coach's note read, dear president obama the newtown community is so thankful that are every are you coming to help us heal. in times of adversity, it is reassuring to know that we have a strong leader to help us recover. the president wrote a note back on this white board. it said simply you're in our thoughts and prayers, barack obama. he tweeted it for everyone to see. ahead on "starting point," a call for tighter gun control laws what do people directly affected think. joining me next, lori haas, whose daughter was shot and survived the virginia tech massacre. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone deserves the gift of all day pain relief. this season, discover aleve. all day pain relief with just two pills.

so as families in newtown continue to grieve, victims and survivor who's experienced past shootings are trying to offer comfort and demand change to prevent future killings like these. a group of them joined mayor bloomberg on monday to call for immediate and national action on gun control. >> this is just ridiculous. this is an outrage.

we are killing each other. and we're the only industrialized country in the world doing it. >> joining me now is lori haas, mother of virginia tech shooting survivor and advocate of the coalition to stop gun violence. the first question, having lived through this yourself, when you see an event like newtown, connecticut, on friday, what's your first reaction? >> sadness and horror and shock, and, frankly, vacillating between nausea and anger on friday when we heard the news. it was -- it was difficult at best and just utmost concern for those who were involved in the tragedy and whose loved ones were killed by a gun. >> you say nausea and anger. where is the anger directed? >> frankly, at elected leaders. i find it appalling that we have allowed the gun lobby to lead the debate on policies regarding

public safety. i rely on law enforcement as the guiding principal for my decisions on public safety, and i talk with them often and i have since the shooting in april 2007 where my daughter, emily, was shot. and i believe that our public safety officials in law enforcement should be leading the discussion and leegd the ad way on the policies we enact. we've learned much from them after the virginia tech shooting. we'd like them to be the lead spokesmen on the policy debate. not a gun lobby out of make money. >> you said you have been working on this every day since your daughter was shot five years ago now. more than five years ago now. >> yes. >> it's been a hard effort clearly. do you feel like people are listening? why haven't they been listening? >> a segment of the population listening. a large segment of the population listening. in polling, we have the support of not only every american out

there virtually, we have the support of nra members. 3 out of 4 nra members want a background check on all gun sales. that's a clearly awareness by everyone that we need to do a better job with our gun laws in this country. when all of america 3 out of 4 nra members, 8 % 2% of gun owne want more responsible gun control laws, like a background check on all gun owners, we have the majority and leaders need to listen to us. >> mayor bloomberg, clearly frustrated. he is asking people to demand a plan. you have been part of that effort? >> yes, i have been. i am demanding a plan. i am sickened and horrified at the level of carnage in this country, that the every day gun violence, 34 americans shot by guns, that's a very tech every day and now we have the

unspeakable heartache and pain of those families who lost loved ones, in particular 6 and 7-year-old children. i cannot fathom it. >> you mentioned background checks. president obama met yesterday with some of his key advisers, and tasked vice president biden in leading an effort to coup wi new gun laws. what would you like to have happen? >> i would like an assault weapons ban reinstated. the ban expired in 2004. since that time, we've had mass tragedy after mass tragedy with horrific numbers of carnage. the shooter in virginia tech to use a high-capacity magazine, 30 rounds, able to do just unspeakable numbers. we'd like stricter penalties for those who traffic in illegal guns. we have to do a better job. quick, easy fixes we can do now, literally now to start saving lives in america. >> quickly, is this a turning

point? >> i do. i absolutely do. i'm convinced of it. >> thank you very much. appreciate your efforts. thanks very much. if would you like to help those affected by the shootings, you can go to cnn.com/impact. coming up next, examining why the shooter went on this rampage. research on previous mass shootings may link the brains of the killers. [ female announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role throughout our lives. one a day women's 50+ is a complete multivitamin designed for women's health concerns as we age. it has 7 antioxidants to support cell health. one a day 50+.

well come back, everyone. you're watching a special edition of "starting point" coming from newtown, connecticut. i am adam lanza's mother, a line from a blog post that has gone viral, the author is liza long, she writes about the difficulties of having a teenage son who is mentally ill. >> sometimes for no apparent reason he will turn into this absolute raging, i don't know how to describe it. you'd have to see it to believe it. i stopped and said to myself, you know, this isn't normal. i have to face up to the fact that i have a sick son and we

need help. >> reporter: liza tells cnn she loves her son but that "terrifies me." there are many questions still unanswered about the newtown school tragedy, the biggest of course is why and maybe that will never be answered. why did the suspected shooter have first graders in an elementary school in his sights? dr. sanjay gupta tells us on previous mass murderers, possible look inside the violent mind. >> reporter: first thing you notice when you look around newtown, everyone has that questioning look, why? what did we miss, if anything? no answers yet, just hindsight. to try and make some sense of the tragedy here in newtown, connecticut, medical investigators often look for evidence of patterns, not talking about looking at clothing styles or musical preferences or lifestyle but rather looking for evidence of specific plans, could get some clue as to what was happening in

the person's mind and in their brain. it's hard to know, because thankfully there are relatively few tragedies like this one but a close look at ten of the most analyzed mass murder cases in history provide remarkable insight. according to this research doctors start by placing the killers into three categories, traumatized, psychotic, psychopathic. in 2005 a 16-year-old killed nine people at a school in minnesota. look into his past revealed an abused boy with an awful family history. the shooter had been previously traumatized. the virginia tech shooter killed 32 people, six were murdered in arizona and 12 lives were taken in an aurora, colorado, movie theater. in each case the killers shows signed of psychotic behavior, severe delusions and paranoia. one of the murderers of

columbine was later discovered to be a textbook psychopath and he even laughed while gunning down his victims. looking back, none of them had snapped. they had all left clues, pieced together after it was too late. hindsight. we still don't know much about the shooter who lived in this home but there is something else to consider, what medications, if any, he was on, and specifically i'm talking about antidepressants. if you look at the studies on other shootings like this that have happened, medications like this were a common factor. i want to be clear, i'm not saying that antidepressants can't be effective but people seem to agree there is a vulnerable time when someone starts these medications and when someone stops could lead to increased impulsivity, decreased judgment, and making someone out of touch. none of this is an excuse and it's never one thing. none of the behaviors will fully redikt or explain why but soon

again there will be hindsight that might just help prevent another tragedy. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn, newtown, connecticut. after several mass shootings in a few short shorts the newtown massacre might be the tipping point for washington to ask. arizona congressman ron barber took over gabrielle giffords' seat after the shooting. why president obama's new proposal could be the compromise republicans are looking for. that's ahead. pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square, under 100 calories. nature valley granola thins.

make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] truth is, nyquil doesn't unstuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels speeds relief to your worst cold symptoms plus has a decongestant for your stuffy nose. thanks. that's the cold truth!

we've decided to we're all having such a great year in the gulf, put aside our rivalry. 'cause all our states are great. and now is when the gulf gets even better. the beaches and waters couldn't be more beautiful. take a boat ride or just lay in the sun. enjoy the wildlife and natural beauty. and don't forget our amazing seafood. so come to the gulf, you'll have a great time. especially in alabama. you mean mississippi. that's florida. say louisiana or there's no dessert. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home.

this morning in our special edition of "starting point" gun control debate is now in full force as the white house considers changes and national polls show a new attitude after the newtown shooting. will this tragedy inspire lawmakers to act? here in newtown while sandy hook elementary remains closed, it is still a crime scene, all of the other students in town go back to class in a couple of hours. another child is laid to rest today. yet another sign this morning the tide may be turning over gun control. gun company stocks under fire as a big pension fund moves to strip its investments. new developments on the fiscal cliff this morning, maybe big ones. could the president's surprising new offer finally seal the deal to avoid tax hikes for most

americans? it's tuesday, december 18th, and a special edition of "starting point" live from newtown, connecticut, begins right now. good morning, welcome back. you're watching a special edition of "starting point" live from newtown, connecticut, where the third of 20 murdered children will be laid to rest today. the tragedy is reigniting the debate over gun control in the country and lawmakers might be ready to take action. president obama met with senior staff and cabinet members yesterday. he wants ideas including reinstating a ban on automatic weapons.'s sporting goods has suspended the sale of ar-15 rifles and other guns like it. in fact the modern sporting rifles section of its website is blank this morning. the company says out of respect for the victims and their families, we've removed all guns

in our store nearest to newtown and suspend the sale of modern sporting rifles in all of our stores chainwide." today grief counselors and police will be on hand when the children in town head back to class for the first time since friday. sandy hook elementary school is still a crime scene and it remains closed. jessica had a passion for horses, and they promised her she would get a horse when she was 10 years old. she was just 6 years old. we'll talk about arizona gun laws with arizona congressman ron barber. he took over gabby giffords seat after the shooting in tucson. at the bottom of the hour, former republican governor of oklahoma frank keating. first right to john berman with

an update on other stories making news. new dramatic developments a reporter and his crew held for five days in syria now free unharmed. nbc saying its chief foreign correspondent richard engel is safe, unharmed and out of the country. moments ago he detailed his harrowing escape on nbc's "today" show. >> at the end of this we were being moved to yet another location around 11:00 last night local time and as we were moving along the road the kiz ndnapper came across a rebel checkpoint, something they didn't expect and we were in a mini van and as we were driving along the road the kidnappers saw the checkpoint, started a gunfight, two of the kidnappers were killed, we climbed out of the vehicle and the rebels took us, we spent the night with them, we didn't get much sleep.

>> we are so glad they're all safe. engel says his kidnappers were government militia called the shabihat trained by iran's revolutionary guard, with hezbollah. syrian opposition fighters rescued a different turkish reporter working for nbc kidnapped last wednesday. today congress will receive a report on the attack on benghazi. the report was ordered by secretary of state hillary clinton although she will not testify. she of course is recovering from a concussion. the attack in september killed four americans including chris stevens, the u.s. ambassador to libya. negotiations may be showing signs of hope with two weeks to go. president obama presented a new proposal to house speaker john boehner. tax rates going up on incomes of

people higher than $400,000. this is a change. previously he wanted taxes higher on households at $250,000. he's offering new spending cuts said to be worth about $200 billion and for his part instead of no new taxes where the speaker had been for a long time speaker john boehner is calling for tax hikes on people making more than $1 million. he has a big day today meeting with house republican members to update them on negotiations that could be a little bit of a difficult meeting for him. let's go to washington to get an update on the talks. cnn's dan lothian is there. >> reporter: hello. you're right, this could be a difficult meeting for speaker john boehner as he tries to sell this proposal to house republicans. this is a dramatic turn of events because president obama as you pointed out had been digging in his heels saying there could not be a deal unless taxes went up for house holds making more than $250,000 and now the president raising that

to 400,000 so certainly some indication at least according to house republican this is is moving in the right direction. in addition the president calling for $1.2 trillion in new revenue, also $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and this meets the demand that speaker boehner had, that there had to be an equal amount of spending, and also revenue, but they still don't believe that the math really adds up here. spokesman for speaker boehner's office, brendan buck saying a proposal that includes $1.3 trillion in revenue for only $930 billion in spending cuts cannot be considered balanced. so while this is a major development here, still some disagreements. the white house at least sources pointing out the white house saying that this is not the final offer, so suggesting there could be additional compromise ahead. >> you saw criticism from the right from brendan buck, just what you were saying. president obama could face some

heat from the left because he's offering concessions that could relate to some entitlement cuts when you get into the cost of living indexes, correct? >> that is correct. when the argument from democrats in the president's party on the left has been that the president has been too aggressive when it comes to spending cuts so something like this could add additional pressure to the president's side in this debate, but again, the president has moved. he's trying to reach some kind of agreement here so they can prevent that fiscal cliff from happening, as that clock winds down. it appears that both sides much closer together now but still a little ways to go. >> dan, today a big day when speaker john boehner faces the republican caucus of the house. dan lothian in washington thank you very much. he was a witness to pearl harbor, earned the congressional medal of honor, tributes pouring in for daniel inouye. he died yesterday at the age of

88, the second longest serving member ever beyond the late senator robert byrd of west virginia. former vet bob dolan said "senator inouye was one of the senate's giants. he believed in civility and compromise when necessary and he was a good, good friend." senator dole and inouye long before they were both senators were in a military hospital for almost two years together in michigan while they were both recovering from their injuries from world war ii. two great friends. soledad back to you in newtown. >> my goodness and the story of what he did, what happened when he lost his arm and how he was able to save himself in world war ii, that is an incredible story. thanks, john, appreciate it. the horror of newtown brings to mind so many other shootings, the assassination attempt on arizona congresswoman gabby give fords, january 8th of 2011 and

left six people dead. among those wounded was ron barber, giffords district director. he took down when she stepped down. he won a full term last month. congressman barber thank you for being with us. >> good morning, thank you for having me on. >> it's my pleasure. what was it like to hear about this tragedy? it's not even been two years since the shooting that injured you and injured gabby giffords. does it just take you back to that day to almost two years ago? >> yes, it did, and it did for my whole family, particularly my grandchildren, who were affected then, and i think even more profoundly affected this time, knowing that children their age were killed in newtown and i just want to say that the community of tucson is just heartsick over what happened in noun. we gathered together on sunday night in a candlelight vigil to

pray for and to send our best wishes to the people of newtown, our hearts are broken, as they were back in january 8th, 2011. we want them to know we are with them and we understand probably better than most communities what they're going through. >> unfortunately and sadly that is probably true. the president asked his cabinet to come up with some ideas about how they can change gun laws. you're a second amendment supporter. what kind of laws would you draft, if given the opportunity? >> i am a supporter of the second amendment. i believe it's one of those rights that we have to protect but i believe it's time for us to move in a different direction with regard to assault weapons, extended clips, magazines with incredible fire power. the young man that shot those of us in tucson last year was

carrying clips that had 30 rounds in them and in a matter of almost 45 seconds he was able to unload all of those bullets and shot 19 people, six of them died. i don't believe we can continue to have those kinds of weapons available and especially in the hands of someone who is mentally ill as he was and seems like all the other shooters in the last couple years have had a diagnosis of serious mental illness. i just want to say i know from my experience in working in the field of mental health for 32 years that very few people with mental illness are violent people but some are, especially if they're not treated, so we have to do both. we have to go after the weapon power, the firepower, and we also have to make sure that we have better services for people with mental illness and supporting their families. >> going to the assault weapons, is it far enough or should you be focusing when it comes to gun legislation and gun control, should it be on the 30-round

clips? should it be the assault weapons? if you look at the overall gun violence, 80% is caused by handguns or attributed to handgun violence so is that leaving out a major portion in the debate, and what is the legislation that could actually make change and would affect a lot of people? >> i think first of all we have to be realistic about what possibly can be done. i've heard over the last few days some people who are heavily supported by the nra come out saying finally we have to do something and we're going to look at legislation regarding assault weapons, military style weapons and extended clips, as i say, have lots of bullets in them that can do serious harm in a very short period of time. handgun is something else. i think i'm after a legislation, i want to see legislation enacted that takes away the availability of these kinds of weapons that can do so much harm and such a short period of time.

in ten minutes, the shooting in connecticut was completed, and 26 people died, including 20 little ones. for me as a member of congress, as a person who has been through a shooting tragedy where this extended clip issue was present and as a grandfather i have to stand up and be counted on this. i'll do everything i can to make sure we limit the fire power and get services to people with mental illness. we have to do both. >> those two things are both giant and i think everyone would say the mental health part of it is completely underfunded. is it possible to make change and discuss those things together, right? often i think gun advocates will say well it's people who have mental problems we should be focusing on and there are others who say listen it's the weapons on the street we should be focusing on. is there a way to talk about both at the same time and make tangible change?

>> i think we have no choice. when we look at the mass shootings since january 8th, there is two aspects of those shootings that they all have in common. someone the fire power, assault weapon, military style weapons and extended clips of magazines that carry a lot of rounds. the other is untreated and in some cases undiagnosed serious mental health issues. we need to go after both of these issues and we need to do them in tandem. ultimately i imagine they'll get separated but for me they go hand in hand and we have to do both. >> congressman ron barber joining us. nice to talk to you, sir, nice to see you. appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you very much. >> you bet. still ahead on "starting point" students in newtown are going back to school this morning. we'll tell you how the community is preparing for that coming up next in a live report. we leave you with what was a really nice tribute that we saw

from the judges and the contestants of "the voice" remembering the victims of this massacre at sandy hook elementary. ♪ hallelujah ♪ i did my best, and it wasn't much ♪ ♪ i couldn't feel so i tried to touch ♪ ♪ i told the truth, i didn't have to fool you ♪ it's like being nestled in an eight-way, adjustable, heated and ventilated seat surrounded by a 500-watt sound system while floating on a suspension made of billowy clouds. or you could just hand them your keys. ♪ ♪

sfx- "sounds of african drum and flute" look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!!

you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles. nice! get happy. get geico.

here in newtown, connecticut, sandy hook elementary school remains closed. it is an active crime scene. students at that school will go back to class eventually about seven miles away at chalk hill school. for those returning students and families, it is back to a productive routine, one that's now filled unfortunately with anxiety and pain as well. cnn's sandra endohas our report this morning. >> reporter: in the wake of

tragedy a step towards normalcy, that means going back to school. >> we are also going to be a little bit worried because we know what we thought was a secure school had this happen to them. >> reporter: but facing fear may be the first step to overcome this tragedy. >> children have to get back to school. if we let this sort of terror in our lives anywhere in this country, then we have lost. we've got to get our kids back to school again. >> reporter: classes are resuming for 35,400 students in the district except for those at sandy hook elementary. monday all schools were closed as teachers and administrators trained with experts on how to handle the aftermath. many parents we spoke with agree kids belong back in school. >> i think that one of the big things that we have to do is have some sort of normalcy, and school is part of that.

>> unfortunately you know we're living in this world where sometimes evil prevails sometimes, but we're just believing that good will overcome this. >> reporter: sandy hook elementary remains a crime scene. furniture and supplies were moved to chuck hill middle school in neighboring monroe will sandy hook students will eventually resume classes. >> when the children come in, whenever the school is started they'll walk into a classroom that looks as close as possible as their classroom that they left. >> reporter: police officers will be present at newtown schools and principals have asked parents to make sure they talk to their children about what happened here before their kid goes back to school and teachers will also be talking about what happened in an age-appropriate manner. soledad? >> san da endo for us this morning, thank you. new fallout of the tragedy to talk about, and it's certain to add fuel to the gun control debate, tell you what's

happening to stock in gun companies up next with christine romans. stay with us. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 low-cost investment options-- tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like our exchange traded funds, or etfs tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 which now have the lowest tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 lower than spdr tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and even lower than vanguard. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 that means with schwab, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 your portfolio has tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 a better chance to grow. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and you can trade all our etfs online, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 commission-free, from your schwab account. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so let's talk about saving money, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab etfs. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 schwab etfs now have the lowest operating expenses tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 in their respective lipper categories. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 call 1-800-4schwab tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 or visit schwab.com tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 to open an account today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 funding is easy tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 with schwab mobile deposit. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 investors should consider tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully information d#: 1-800-345-2550 contained in the prospectus, d#: 1-800-345-2550 cluding investment objectives, d#: 1-800-345-2550 risks, charges, and expenses. d#: 1-800-345-2550 you can obtain d#: 1-800-345-2550 a prospectus by visiting tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 w.schwab.com/schwabetfs. please read the prospectus tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 carefully before investing. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550

well, it's that time of year again. you know, picture-taking season. and with photo stream, you can share all the photos you want, with just the people you want. it's as easy as pie. mmmm .. pie.

welcome back to "starting point." interesting new fallout in the wake of the shootings in newtown, connecticut. it has to do with the money, the financing behind the gun industry. >> big private equity firm that owns the company that makes bushmaster firearms, the rifle used in the attack saying it's going to sell that company. look at the money here behind bushmaster. the california state teachers retirement system put in multimillion-dollar into a fund created by cerberus capital management which created the

freedom group, a combination of ten ammunition and gunmakers. they're the flow. this morning what you hear from cerberus capital they're going to sell freedom group. "it is apparent that the sandy hook tragedy was a watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedent the level. it is not our role to take positions or attempt to shape or influence the gun control policy debate. there are however actions that we as a firm can take." california teachers indirectly through their retirement fund own more than 6% of bushmasters, teachers own more than 6% of bushmaster, the company that made the rifle used in that attack on the school. this say statement, "there are a lot of products that can be used responsibly or irresponsibly. in this case it was used irresponsibly. now that a tragic event like this has occurred i'm sure it is something that we will be discussing going forward."

on friday when this was unfolding i googled bushmaster 223, the first response was to walmart saying i to go to the carney, new jersey, store, to get it. you couldn't get it on line. it says it aims straight and true. today you cannot see the advertisement on walmart.com. walmart says the gun is still available in select stores, it's not advertising it online.'s sporting goods suspend selling weapons like this for now and closed, no more guns at dick's sporting goods closest to newtown, connecticut. >> it's interesting with cerberus, they're a private equity firm, their business is to make money and they've decided it's bad business to be in the gun business. >> they've hired somebody to help them sell the company. this say big, important private equity firm and private means private, they buy stuff for profit not meant to, they try to take this company public a couple years ago and then decided not to, put together

with this company ten others to make a whole freedom group, a whole guns and ammunition business trying to get out of that business. >> christine romans thank you very much. ahead we'll discuss how gun policy will move forward with former oklahoma governor frank keating, a member of the nra. he guided his state through the oklahoma city bombing where 19 children were killed. is president obama's new proposal on the fiscal cliff the deal republicans were looking for? just how close are we now to avoiding those massive across the board tax hikes and mammoth spending cuts? we'll talk about that coming up next. all waking up. ♪ becoming part of the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ trees will talk to networks will talk to scientists about climate change. cars will talk to road sensors

will talk to stoplights about traffic efficiency. the ambulance will talk to patient records will talk to doctors about saving lives. it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. the next big thing? we're going to wake the world up. ♪ and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. ♪ cisco. tomorrow starts here. a body at rest tends to stay at rest... while a body in motion tends to stay in motion. staying active can actually ease arthritis symptoms. but if you have arthritis, staying active can be difficult. prescription celebrex can help relieve arthritis pain so your body can stay in motion. because just one 200mg celebrex a day can provide 24 hour relief for many with arthritis pain and inflammation. plus, in clinical studies,

celebrex is proven to improve daily physical function so moving is easier. celebrex can be taken with or without food. and it's not a narcotic. you and your doctor should balance the benefits with the risks. all prescription nsaids, like celebrex, ibuprofen, naproxen, and meloxicam have the same cardiovascular warning. they all may increase the chance of heart attack or stroke, which can lead to death. this chance increases if you have heart disease or risk factors such as high blood pressure or when nsaids are taken for long periods. nsaids, including celebrex, increase the chance of serious skin or allergic reactions or stomach and intestine problems, such as bleeding and ulcers, which can occur without warning and may cause death. patients also taking aspirin and the elderly are at increased risk for stomach bleeding and ulcers. do not take celebrex if you've had an asthma attack, hives, or other allergies to aspirin, nsaids or sulfonamides. get help right away if you have swelling of the face or throat, or trouble breathing. tell your doctor your medical history and find an arthritis treatment for you. visit celebrex.com and ask your doctor about celebrex.

for a body in motion. welcome back to "starting point" coming to you live from newtown, connecticut, where a gunman's rampage reignited the gun control debate in this

country. overnight dick's sporting goods out of respect of the victims is pulling all guns from its store close toast newtown and suspending the sale of ar-15 guns and weapons like it across the more than 400 stores of the chain. president obama met with members of the cabinet and wants to come up with various gun law changes. nearly 5,000 children in newtown will head back to school after the friday shooting. sandy hook will remain closed. 6-year-old jessica rekos, one of 20 children killed on friday will be buried today. when you have a tragedy of this magnitude you cannot help but recall other tragedies of the past, senseless acts that claimed innocent lives in the country. oklahoma city bombing in 1995, the bombing of a federal building downtown killed 168 people, and 19 of them were children. frank keating was the governor

of oklahoma when that happened and governor keating joins thus morning. nice to have you with us, sir. we appreciate it. >> good morning, soledad. >> i have to imagine -- good morning to you, sir -- when you're inside a franlg diof this magnitude, it's hard to imagine that you're ever going to be able to get out of it. is that how you felt when everyone was mired in the aftermath of the oklahoma city bombing? >> soledad, it's an instant cataclysm for the families and for the first responders, but the climb out is long, and it's searing and it's very difficult. today, 17 years after the oklahoma city bombing with private funds we are still putting children through college, providing counseling, first responders, firefighters and police officers and even providing medical care for a number of the badly injured. so the one thing about newtown, it is a community so stitching together, holding hands together, understanding your

neighbor is really your neighbor, if not a family member. this is going to be a long time crawling out, scratching yourself out, because it's going to be searing. we've had suicides just a lot of agony after the oklahoma city bombing and i'm afraid that the tragedy in newtown is not going to be december. it's going to take a long time to recover. >> it sounds so brutal. you mentioned the first responders, and i remember seeing when the president came to the interfaith vigil, the first responders everyone came in walked and cheered and patted them on the back. they're often forgotten in the story, people remember them as heroes but we don't think about their mental health and how brutally difficult it must have been for them to go inside that school and see the massacre of small children, many of those responders, parents themselves. >> that's the point because right now i saw the university of connecticut putting together a scholarship fund, surely there are private checks arriving,

private transmissions or transfers of money. i think it's important that a community foundation or perhaps the united way initially put together a plan for how do we address these problems. some people need long-term counseling. the first responders particularly people need to be sensitive to those absolutely stunning, searing, shocking, unforgettable moments of those wonderful little children so people need to sit around the table together, work it out, but realize they're going to be in this business for a long time, unfortunately, tragically they have to work through it for a long time. >> so what do you think happens next? all morning we've been reporting about the new focus on gun control, there is a support if you look at the polls much higher, 14 points highers before this massacre. what do you think happens in that conversation on gun control? what change do you think should happen? >> well i'm a hunter. i've been a hunter my whole

life. i had my first shotgun when i was 11, my first job was in a skeet field. i think this debate, this conversation needs to take place. should people be able to access to purchase semiautomatic weapons with these clips, these magazines that provide for basically unlimited fire power? that needs to be debated and discussed. we did it once. i think we should do it again to ban those assault weapons, but also you have to discuss mental health, privacy issues, you have to discuss quite truthfully the easy divorce process, even with children, marriages are -- more than 60% end in divorce. video violence, movie violence, television violence, all of this should be on the table, round table community resolution, national resolution so we can make sure this is an aberration but as a child we had cap guns, we went hunting after school but none of us sleightered o ee eee

slaughtered our classmates. there's something evil in the hearts and minds of some people. that all needs to be addressed. >> there's a state rep. in your state, mark mccullough, and he will introduce a bill which would allow certified teachers and principals to carry guns in the school. here's what he wrote, "we cannot continue to be shackled by politically recorrect, reflexive, anti-gun sentiment in the face of the obvious. our schools are soft targets. it's incredibly irresponsible to leave our schools undefended to allow madmen to kill dozens of innocents when we have a very simple available to us to prevent it and by that solution he means arming some of the teachers and the principals. do you think that's a good idea in your state, which is where he's proposing it in. >> soledad i was the architect really of the first concealed carry law in the united states but we required a mental health

history, criminal background investigation and a 15-week course before somebody could have a concealed carry permit. that's an example where perhaps a former law enforcement person, even a teacher who happens to have a conceal carry permit in my state could satisfy the needs of security in that school. i would hope we would attack the whole universe of problems and violent videos, violent movies, insensitivity and desensitivity toward the precious life rights of every human being, those are things that need to be discussed as well, whether oklahoma passes this bill or not is oklahoma's business but the conceal carry law was prudently handled and our violent crime rate has gone down. >> you know what's interesting in new york city not long ago we had a disgruntled employee who shot a co-worker and then it happened not very far from where i live and when the police

opened fire it turned out that eight other people were injured in the cross-fire frankly and some of the fragments and things like that. when you talk to police officers the idea of having people armed especially inside of a school is more concerning to them than feeling that it would help them in what they do. not everybody, but a lot. >> i think soledad, quite truthfully, it would depend, versus urban, big city versus small towns. in the case of the new york incident, as an ex-fbi agent i thought it looks to me these guys were trigger happy. you had a lot of shooting going on with a lot of people around which was not handled well. >> that is an interesting point because they're trained, right? to be a police officer in the city of new york requires such incredible training on weapons i

guess i'd worry people who are not trained like they are you know and we see so many people injured out of that incident, i guess i extrapolate out of that, that's very worrisome. >> that's why conceal carry or open carry law in any state needs to have not only mental health history and criminal background but also extensive training to avoid the situation you're referring to. if that person is a constable make sure he or she is well trained. >> let me ask you a last final question, the people in oklahoma city i know did not want to be defined pi a tragedy and we heard from people the same thing in newtown, nobody wants to be defined by the worst thing that ever happens in their community. do you think that oklahoma city has avoided that? do you think that's possible for newtown? >> well initially that was examine ktly how oklahoma city was described but there was a

renaissance moment, or renaissance years ago. the fact that oklahoma city showed itself to be so caring seen sharing, putting together these funds to put every child, 170 children lost one parent. every child who wanted to go to college went to college. the fact there was no looting and over 300 buildings damaged or destroyed, oklahoma city was proud of the way to the way they responded to the evil tragedy, from the oklahoma city thunder basketball game, the nba franchise to all sorts of redevelopment. it's the sense of pride. i'm not saying always good things come from bad things. sometimes good from evil and in oklahoma city's case the community felt better about themselves. they'll never bling back the wonderful people who should not have been injured or killed.

>> maybe good people always come to the surface on that. frank kaeter, former oklahoma governor. thank you for being with us. >> great to see you. john berman has a look at other stories making news. >> a developing story in washington, significant movement to avert the fiscal cliff. president obama presented a new proposal to house speaker john boehner, under this revised plan tax rates would go up on incomes higher than $400,000. previously he wanted higher taxes on house holds starting at $250,000. the offer offers new spending cuts worth $100 billion. speaker bainer is calling for tax hikes on people making $1 million or more, a change for him, too. today he meets with republican house members to update them on negotiations, that could be a difficult meeting for him.

i go to dana bash, senior congressional cor spendent. yesterday we were talking about the meeting wondering what went on inside. what seemed to be going on was progress. >> the white house offering out a deal late out in part. it's important to note where the movement has been and where we are now, $1.2 trillion in tax revenue toward deficit reduction, down from what the president offered $1.6 trillion. the white house is now offering to move on his position on tax rates for the wealthy from incomes of families making too,000 to $400,000. that is very significant because democrats i've talked to all along said maybe they'd move on the percentage of increases but maybe not the incomes.

spending cuts the democrats have moved up as well. the debt limit, john, something that republicans have been dug in on saying they want to keep this potential leverage or february when the u.s. is going to bump up against this debt limit and the democrats have said no, we want to take this off the table. dough we don't want another naufr two months. there is going to be very interesting meeting that starts in about 20 minutes, i'll head over there and see what reaction, response house republicans are going to have to this. so far the speaker has been able to keep his folks in line because they've been aggravated the president's not given. we'll see if he still has all of his tloopz behind him. >> the $250,000 number for taxes has been part of president owe pa ma's rhetoric since he

campaigned in it007. the speaker does go into that meeting with republicans with maybe an argument that he has gotten the president to move. >> he sure does but for republicans, for them to politically be able to swallow any deal they've got to argue to their folks back home they were able to extract more on spending cuts from the president. it looks like $930 billion in spending cuts and a discrepancy over what the numbers really are so that's the squabble over the next 24 hours. hopefully less. >> dey ta bash, thank you very much. other stories, director for national intelligence for the united states is staying on the job. the president asked james clapper to stay on the job. he's taken a lot of heat and criticism for the response to

the september 11th attack on the u.s. mission in benghazi. doctors expect president george h.w. bush to be home from illness. at 88 years old he's the loadest living former president. martin scorsese will cover a film on bill clinton. he's cooperating. i'm sure he's loving every bit of that. back to soledad in newtown. >> if marty scorsese wants to do a film on you, he does it. ahead this morning we'll talk to pasty t.d. jakes about how newtown connecticut might be

able to heal. that's coming up next. this holiday, share everything. share "not even close." share "you owe me..." share "just right." the share everything plan. shareable data across 10 devices with unlimited talk and text. hurry in for a droid razr m by motorola for $49.99.

a tragedy of the magnitude

of the deadly shootings at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut, can shake the faith of the firmest believer. t.d. jakes has a congregation of 30,000 members. >> thank you. >> i was reading the eulogy that the mother of 6-year-old noah pozner wrote and she delivered it at his funeral yesterday and it just broke my heart and i think how do you counsel parents who have to deliver eulogies for a 6-year-old or 7-year-old? what words do you possibly use? >> you don't want to think we have to remember about greece they are not a monolithing society. for some people that would be totally impossible to utter a word or a sound. for other people it's cathartic to open up and express their love and devotion and to have

the final words over someone they love. i try very much as a pastor not to among their relationships and emotions and how they use to commemorate the person they leaply will have. >> as a reporter i like to get as many information as you can. i want to know every detail about everything and that's a way of processing it, managing it. people must ask you questions you cannot answer. and they say where was god when this happened? >> it's precisely as you is asaid i've tried to avoid answers goesable temporary. there are some things that are handeds now life that we do not know or understand.

these areas, ambiguous areas where we don't have a deficit answer it's better not to give any answer at all than to give one inappropriate. that's why we have faith for those things we cannot explain and point to directly, we have to frtrust god and lean on him get through the sufficient times in life. >> there was a little girl emilies who father came out to reporters. he said i'm not angry. we've bin and talked about forgiveness it's for yourself not for the other person in a lot of ways. do you think people are ever going to be able to get to that not just here in this massacre? i don't see it happening honestly. >> well i think different people again respond differently but one of the things we have to keep in nind is that we don't

know that much about the traitor yet. as you unfoenl that mystery that are not on medication but they have problems in their lives, that i emotional capacities and reasonings, sometimes under ex-ten situating services people are able to forgive and others not so readily. today is not the day to embark upon a huge mission. today is the way to honor the victims slain to process, to commemorate them, to take out pictures to hug, hold hands, bring around the people you feel secure with and reaffirm your circle of love because if we do that as a society from that place of emotional stability, then we can embark on theard use task of sorting out how we really feel about what happened and then planning a new what i call a new normal because the

only normal is gone. you will never be able to get that back again and it's very important you redekind the new normal, new traditions in the family, no ways of expressing the family and that is a huge task you spend many, many years trying to do. >> pastor we'll ask to you stick around through this commercial break so we can have more conversation with you about this straight ahead. back in a moment. >> thank you. it really 100 cal? let me put you on webcan... ...lean roasted chicken... and a creamy broth mmm i can still see you.

to the number 1 club in the world. the potential of manchester united unlocked. nyse euronext. unlocking the world's potential.

bishop jakes, i have time for one last question as we talk about newtown, remembering. your church does a lot of outreach into the community and sometimes i think as americans we're conflicted about mental health. we think people definitely should be getting treatment. we don't necessarily vote to pay for it. we turn away from people i think who often have mental health issues because we don't want to get in people's business. what should we be doing for not in this case, we don't know enough about the shooter but in general what would you advise

people to be doing for their fellow brothers and sisters. >> i'm so glad you asked me the question. i think it's important we press on congress to provide resources so people who need mental health can get the appropriate treatment that we need. i caution people that you don't have to have a fre existing mental condition to implode emotionally through stress. we have to age old biblical question am i my brother's keeper, the answer is yes. we have to be aware who we work with, the people across the fence in our neighborhood, see how they are coping particularly when there's check crisis, you don't have to have a history of emotional disorder. we have to encourage them to get

the help. >> bishop t.d. jakes nice to talk to you. appreciate it. >> always. cnn's coverage live from newtown, connecticut, continues right after this. nature valls pack the big taste of granola and dark chocolate into one perfect square, under 100 calories. nature valley granola thins. why they have a raise your rate cd.. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally.